New poll shows nativist, anti-immigrant sentiments growing in Canada

The Canadian elites -- the liberal politicians of the mainstream parties, the lamestream media and the commentariat (Hello, Andrew Coyne, Paul Wells, Rosie Barton, Chantal Hébert -- all of whom appear on CBC's At Issue to tell Canucks what to think) -- have been trying for weeks now to assure the gullible that mass immigration is a non-issue in the upcoming federal election, that all Canadians agree the country needs more immigrants, and that (as Mr Socks used to say) "diversity is our strength."

That, they say, is why it's not necessary to include Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada, in the Leaders' Debates scheduled for October 7th and 10th. "Don't listen to him," they say. "He only represents the opinions of a tiny minority of racists, Islamophobes, and white supremacists."

WRONG! A new Ipsos poll, published today by Canada's Global TV, reveals that the majority of Canadians think politicians aren't concerned with people like them and experts (Hello, Andrew Coyne et al.) don't understand them. They say Canadian society is "broken" and the economy is rigged in favour of elites. Worse yet for the multiculti, pro-immigrant crowd, the poll shows that populist attitudes -- as well as nativist, anti-immigrant sentiments -- have gained new ground across Canada.

Global quotes Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos, as ssaying that the general sentiments "create a series of difficulties for all the parties." With respect to Mr Bricker, he should have said "all the parties except the People's Party of Canada". Maxime Bernier and his party have been excoriataed by the commentariat for daring to suggest that Canada needs fewer immigrants, not more. (See "'No mass immigration' signs torn down, censorship complete", WWW 27/8/19.) Only the PPC has a real alternative to the prevailing orthodoxy on questions of immigration and the cult of diversity which is tearing Canada apart.

According to the survey, conducted at the end of March and early April, 61% of respondents agreed traditional political parties don't care about people like them. That's an increase of 5 percentage points over the result of a poll done in 2016, the first year of Prime Minister Just In Trudeau's mandate. Two-thirds of respondents believe the economy is rigged to benefit the rich (Well, duh!). That's up eight points since 2016. But there's an even more disturbing finding.

The majority of respondents (52%) agreed that society is "broken" -- an increase of 15 points over three years ago. Only 19% disagreed, while 28% said they were neutral [the default Canadian answer? Ed.] and 1% said they don't know. But wait (as Vince Offer used to say), there's more!

The poll also found that 41% cent of respondents believed immigrants are taking away crucial social services (such as health care) from "real Canadians" -- a 6-point increase from 2016. Just over a third said they disagree, while more than fifth chose the default answer.

Global asked Mr Bricker what's fuelling what they called "the shift toward populism". The Ipsos CEO answered that Canadian politics has become more "tribal". Imagine that, in a country whose leader preaches incessantly that "diversity is our strength!" Could it be that that's a lie? That strength comes from unity, not diversity?

Mr Bricker added that the distribution of political support has changed in Canada. "You have a lot of stuff here where it's the downtown Laurentian elite versus everybody else," he said. "If I broke this out and took at look at where these feelings are the strongest, they would be outside of the downtowns of the cities, so that cleavage has been created. Also when you get to Western Canada, the feelings are much stronger."

What does all this portend for the October election, and especially for the future of Mr Socks' gliberal government? All the polls and pundits (named and shamed above) keep saying that the People's Party has only 2% support, and that Max Bernier will be lucky to win his own seat, let alone any others. Walt says -- you read it here first -- that the polls and pundits are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Just as a lot of Americans would not disclose to pollsters and reporters from the lamestream media their preference for Donald Trump -- a leader who stood up for the ordinary people -- so a great many of those "neutral" and "don't know" Canadians will choose the PPC in the only poll that counts, making it a very big and vfery real factor. Should be interesting...

Further reading and viewing: "Max Bernier talks about immigration, refugees, hate speech", WWW 3/9/19. Short (6:50) video. More Canucks agree with "Mad Max" than the commentariat would have you believe.

Walt explains why Americans like The Donald

Walt loves watching the liberal lamestream meeja explain to Americans why they're all wrong in supporting Donald Trump's bid for the presidensity. One of the more ridiculous analyses I've seen was that of the CBC's Neil Macdonald, who opines that Americans "don't take people like Donald Trump seriously" and are enjoying the spectacle purely for the entertainment value. Wrong, Neil! Wrong!!!

A better view is taken by Lexington, the Economist's observer of things American. In "El Donald", he (or she) says "What is clear is that he will not win the Republican presidential nomination.... America’s two-party system offers him a bleaker choice: to stay on and heckle in the primaries or to play wrecker as a third-party candidate. Yet the Trump slump, when it happens, will not spell the end of the forces that have propelled him so far. Anti-politics rage is buffeting rich democracies across the world, and America is not immune to it." [Walt's emphasis.]

IMHO, Lexington has put his (or her) finger on the root of Mr. Trump's popularity. While the likes of Mr. Macdonald are already writing obituaries for his "The America We Deserve" campaign, a CNN/ORD national survey (conducted after The Donald's nasty remarks about John McCain) showed Mr. Trump leading the GOP pack, with the support of 18% of Republicans. "Jeb" Noname had 15% and Scott Walker 10%.

Mr. Trump's star is rising, and shows no signs of falling before next month's debate of the top ten contenders. Why is this?

Part of it is The Donald's reputation for business acumen. "I'm a smart guy," he tells us. "I went to Wharton Business School." The second statement is true. As for the first, Mr. Trump has had some spectacular business successes. He's had a few colossal failures too, but anyone who can boast that he could finance his own multimillion-dollar campaign if he wanted to is clearly no slouch at managing the elusive sponduliks. And, according to the same CNN poll, 44% of Republicans think healing the economy is the ballot issue for the next election.

Then there's the celebrity factor. For decades now, Mr. Trump has been plastering his name on everything he touches, from New York towers to California golf courses to airplane tailfins. Walt even flew on the Trump Shuttle, back in the day. Leatherette seats in coach - for decades. He was the star of his own "reality" television show, and his catchphrase -- "you're fired" -- is a commonplace of American dialogue. [You're fired! Ed.]

Mr. Trump has name and face (read: hair) recognition up the yingyang. A recent Gallup poll puts his name ID among Republicans at 92%. But who's John Kasich? Who's Bobby Jindal? Who's... that other guy?
The Trump name demands media coverage (even if it's just in the Entertainment section), which boosts his poll numbers and leads to more media coverage.

We turn now to the Top Two Reasons for Donald Trump's lead in the polls.

His stance on illegal immigrants resonates with the majority of Republicans and, dare we say it, the majority of Americans. Lots of people who were born in the USA, or followed the rules to come in legally, are sick, sore and tire of being branded as racists and extremists. They see no reason to give the queue-jumpers a fast track to resident alien status, or amnesty of any kind. What they want, according to that CNN/ORC survey, is for them to be deported -- immediately if not sooner.

In "Revenge of the Radical Middle", Matthew Continetti, neocon editor of The Washington Free Beacon, writes: "It is immigration -— its universally celebrated benefits and its barely acknowledged costs -— that is the third rail of U.S. politics.... Trump didn’t step on the third rail; he embraced it, he won’t let go of it, and in so doing he’s become electric. Republicans, Democrats, journalists, corporations all want to define themselves against him, and their flaunting of their moral superiority only feeds the media monster, only makes Trump more attractive to the dispossessed, alienated, radical middle."

Which brings us to the undeniable fact that The Donald has become the spokesman for the silent majority. Mr. Continetti calls Trump supporters the "radical middle", who in years past embraced Ronald Reagan, Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich. Mr. Trump, you see, is not a conservative, or even a mainstream Republican. He is a populist, more akin to Ross Perot (another wealthy businessman who ranted about the Mexican threat) or George Wallace than to Messrs Gingrich and Reagan.

The voters to whom Mr. Trump appeals (continues Mr. Continetti) "don’t give a whit [Ed., please check spelling] about corporate tax reform or TPP or the capital gains rate or the fate of Uber, they make a distinction between deserved benefits like Social Security and Medicare and undeserved ones like welfare and food stamps, their patriotism is real and nationalistic and skeptical of foreign entanglement, they wept on 9/11, they want America to be strong, dominant, confident, the America of their youth, their young adulthood, the America of 40 or 30 or even 20 years ago.

"They do not speak in the cadences or dialect of New York or Washington, their thoughts can be garbled, easily dismissed, or impugned, they are not members of a designated victim group and thus lack moral standing in the eyes of the media, but still they deserve as much attention and sympathy as any of our fellow citizens, still they vote."

Speaking last week in South Carolina, Mr. Trump said, "There's a silent majority out there. We're tired of being pushed around, kicked around, and acting and being led by stupid people." To which Walt can only say, "Ain't it the truth!"